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Sanctity of the Ballot

Updated March 2, 1998 11:19 a.m. ET

In a rush to make it as easy as possible for citizens to exercise their right to vote, the country has created lax registration and voting procedures that could call into question a close election in any number of states. The 1993 federal Motor Voter law requires states to allow people to register to vote when they get a driver's license, even though 47 states don't require proof of legal U.S. residence much less citizenship for such a license. "We have the modern world's sloppiest electoral systems," warns political scientist Walter Dean Burnham.